Deals of the day -- mergers and acquisitions

Reuters Staff

4 Min Read

April 18 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Thursday.

** Qatar’s Ooredoo, formerly Qatar Telecom, has secured a loan of up to $12 billion from a group of 10 banks to support its bid for Vivendi’s stake in Maroc Telecom , several bankers working on the deal said.

** Private equity group CVC is buying the stake in German energy-metering firm Ista it does not already own in what will be Germany’s largest private equity deal in five years.

CVC will buy a 76 percent stake from co-owner Charterhouse, in a deal valuing the company at 3.1 billion euros ($4.1 billion), two people familiar with the transaction said.

** Private equity firm Lone Star and Wells Fargo are in exclusive talks to buy a 4 billion pound ($6.09 billion) UK property loans portfolio, put up for sale by Commerzbank , a person familiar with the deal said on Thursday.

** U.S. healthcare firm Johnson & Johnson cut its stake in Elan Corp, in a move that clouds prospects for a $7.3 billion takeover bid for the Irish drugmaker.

** Spanish renewable energy and infrastructure company Abengoa said it would sell its subsidiary Befesa to funds managed by investment firm Triton Partners for an enterprise value of 1.07 billion euros ($1.4 billion).

** Diversified U.S. manufacturer Roper Industries Inc said it would buy healthcare services company Managed Health Care Associates Inc for $1 billion in an all-cash deal to expand its presence in the healthcare market.

** Verizon Communications Inc Chief Financial Officer said the telephone company put in a bid to Clearwire Corp for some of its wireless airwaves.

Clearwire had previously reported a bid of $1 billion to $1.5 billion for spectrum.

** MacDon Industries Ltd, one of North America’s largest manufacturers of windrowers, is looking for a buyer in a deal that could fetch around $1 billion, four people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

** Finmeccanica unit Alenia Aermacchi has signed a contract worth 170 million euros ($222 million) to supply components and services for 12 Eurofighter fighter jets ordered by Oman in December, the Italian defence group said on Thursday.

** Greece’s Piraeus Bank has signed a deal to sell its Romanian unit ATEbank Romania for 10.3 million euros ($13.4 million) as part of its restructuring efforts.

** Poland has sold a 12.1 percent stake in state-controlled chemical maker Azoty Tarnow to a group of investors, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the treasury ministry said.

The price was 52 zlotys ($16.54) per share, 21 percent below the price of Azoty shares at Thursday’s market close. At that price, the government would receive $200 million, according to Reuters calculations.

** Standard Chartered said it will acquire Absa Group’s South African custody and trustee operations, as the London-based lender steps up its presence in the continent’s top economy.

** Omega Advisors, one of the biggest shareholders in Sprint Nextel Corp, on Wednesday joined a growing group of investors who say they favor Dish Network Corp’s $25.5 billion bid for the company over SoftBank Corp’s offer.

** China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator, said on Thursday it had terminated an agreement to buy 12 percent of Taiwan mobile carrier Far EasTone, after it failed to overcome regulatory hurdles.

** Kingfisher, Europe’s largest DIY retailer, said it was expanding into the “attractive” Romanian market, just as British department store group Debenhams quit the east European country, blaming difficult trading conditions.